Hair clipper



March 10, 1942. J. OSTER 2,276,061

HAIR CLIPPER Filed 001;. 23, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l Ja/m' 'J. OSTER HAIR CLIPPER March 10, 1942.

Filed Oct. 23, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 hwmm I 470/727 552122" Patented Mar. 10, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT oFTICE HAIR CLIPPER John Oster, Racine, Wis., assignor to John Oster Manufacturing Company, Racine, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin Application ctober'23, 1940, Serial No. 362,395 6 Claims. (01. 30-208) This invention relates to hair clippers, and refers particularly to hand operated clippers.

Hand operated clippers heretofore in use were constructed in several difierent ways. In some cases the stationary blade was rigidly secured to a blade support formed on one of the handles, while the movable blade was slidably held down on the stationary blade by means of a tension cap clamped down onto the movable blade by a wing nut threaded on a stud projecting up through the cap.

In other instances a single threaded stud had the dual function of holding the assembled blades to one of the handles and also receiving the wing nut by which the tension on the blades was adjusted.

In all cases, however, the tension on the blades was regulated by an exposed wing nut. This not only detracted from the appearance of the clipper, but it also left the adjustment of the blade tension discretionary with the operator and as few operators possess the skill necessary to make this adjustment the tension on the blades was seldom if ever correct. Y

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide a hand operated hair clipper wherein the usual wing nut is entirely obviated and wherein the top of the cutter head has a neatly shaped, uninterrupted surface.

Another object of this invention is to provide a hand operated clipper having a unitary cutter assembly wherein the blades are held assembled with each other with the proper degree of spring tension and wherein the tension is fixed and in nowise subject to change by the operator.

Another disadvantage of hand operated clippers heretofore in use resulted from the means employed for defining the limits of motion of the Accurate limits for the motion of the movable cutter is thus a prerequisite in hand operated clippers.

Heretofore this was accomplished by posts set in or anchored to the stationary blade and received in slots formed in the movable blade. This construction obviously entailed difiicult and costly machining operations.

Another type of construction employed for limiting the reciprocation of the movable blade consisted of a lug on the blade supporting portion of one of the handles and a slot cut into the movable blade to receive the lug. While this construction eliminated the posts on the stationary blade, it still necessitated the expensive formation of the slot in the movable blade.

The present invention, thus, contemplates as another of its objects the provision of novel means for accurately defining the limits of reciprocation of the movable blade whereby costly machining is eliminated and by which the formation of the slots through the movable blade is particularly obviated.

With the above and other objects in'view which will appear as the description proceeds, this invention resides in the novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts substantially as hereinafter described, and more particularly defined by the appended claims, it being understood that such changes in the precise embodiment of the herein-disclosed invention may be made as come within the scope of the claims.

The accompanying drawings illustrate several complete examples of the physical embodiment of the invention constructed in accordance with the best modes so far devised for the practical application of the principle thereof, and in which:

Figure l is a top viewof a hand operated clipper constructed in accordance with this invention;

Figure 2 is a side view thereof;

Figure 3 is an enlarged perspective view showing the underside of the clipper from which the cutter assembly has been removed;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the removed cutter assembly;

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a slightly modified form of the cutter assembly; and

Figures 6 and 7 are perspective views of still another modified form of the clipper and cutting blade assembly.

Referring now particularly to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals indicate like parts, the numerals 5 and 6 designate a pair of handles pivotally connected as at 1 and biased by means of a spring (not shown) to a spread or open position.

The lower pivoted end of the handle 5 is enlarged to form a base portion indicated generally face to which a unitary cutter assembly, indicated generally by the numeral I4, is removably secured.

The front edge !5 of the top wall of the housing-like base is spaced from the plane of the surface l3 a distance to accommodate the movable cutter blade; and attention is directed to the fact that the top wall of the base has a neat, graceful contour, and that it is entirely unbroken and uninterrupted. The entire unit thus has a pleasant, streamlined appearance.

The unitary cutter assembly I4 comprises a stationary blade l6 having cutting teeth along its front edge and a movable or reciprocable blade I! likewise provided with cutting teeth at its front edge to cooperate with those of the stationary blade in a shearing action.

The adjacent surfaces of the blades are provided with runners 18 to reduce the area of sliding contact between the blades, and the outer or top surface of the movable blade has a longitudinal groove l9 into which a beaded edge 20 of a spring clip 21 engages to hold the blades assembled with a spring tension.

The spring clip is arched laterally over the movable blade and has an attaching portion 22 which lies flat against the top surface of the stationary blade to which it is secured by means of a clamping plate 23 attached to the stationary blade by screws 24.

As will be readily apparent, the tension with which the blades are held in frictional engagement is determined by the design and stiffness of the spring clip 2!. Hence the manufacturer determines and fixes the tension.

The rear or inner edges of the movable blade has a notch 25 for the reception of the driving lug l2 of the oscillating lever upon application of the cutter assembly to the base, such attachment being effected by means of screws passed through holes 26 in the stationary blade and threaded into tapped holes 21 in the base.

The limits of reciprocatory motion of the movable blade are defined by a lug 28 extended from the clamping plate 23 into the notch 25 to collide with accurately located surfaces 29 on the movable blade formed by cutting back the outer end portions of the side walls of the notch. This manner of defining the limits of the movable cutter blade obviously is considerably less expensive than previous schemes used for this purpose for it entirely eliminates the slot through the movable blade.

Another very simple manner of defining the limits of motion of the movable blade is by eX- tending the clamping plate 23 beyond the ends of the spring clip to provide spaced abutments 30, as shown in Figure 5. These spaced abutments are positioned to collide with accurately located stops 31 formed by notches in the corners of the movable blade;

Still another manner of limiting the reciprocation of the movable cutter blade is illustrated in Figures 6 and '7. As here shown lugs 32 are formed at opposite ends of the front edge l5 of the base or cutter support with which the extreme end surfaces 33 of the movable cutter engage at the termini of its full stroke.

From the foregoing description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, it will be readily apparent that this invention provides a hand operated hair clipper having a considerably neater appearance than clippers of this type heretofore in use; that the objections arising from improper spring tension are obviated; and that accurate definition of the limits of motion of the movable blade is obtained in an improved and considerably less expensive manher than methods previously used for this purpose.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a clipper of the character described: a pair of pivotally connected handles; a base on one of said handles providing a blade support; means on the adjacent portion of the other handle providing a blade reciprocating lever; a unitary cutter head detachably secured to said blade support and comprising, a stationary blade having cutting teeth, a movable blade having cutting teeth and slidable across the stationary blade to carry its teeth across those of the stationary blade, said movable blade having means for effecting a driving connection with the blade reciprocating lever, and spring tension means for holding the blades assembled with each other with a predetermined fixed spring tension; stationary stop abutments; and movable stop abutments on the movable blade arranged to collide With the stationary stop abutments for accurately defining the limits of motion of said movable blade, said movable stop abutments being accessible to an outside edge of the movable blade so that accurate machining thereof is inexpensive.

2. In a clipper of the character described: cooperating pivotally connected handles; a base on one of said handles forming a blade support; means on the adjacent portion of the other handle forming a blade reciprocating lever; a unitary cutter head comprising, a stationary blade, a movable blade, and spring tension means for holding said blades slidably assembled, both of said blades having cutting teeth at one edge; screws passing through the stationary blade and threaded into the blade supporting base for detachably moimting the unitary cutter head; and stop abutments for accurately defining the limits of motion of the movable blade, said stop abutments being readily accessible on exterior edges of the parts on which they are formed.

3. In a clipper of the character described: cooperating pivotally connected handles; a base on one of said handles forming a blade support; means on the adjacent portion of the other handle forming a blade reciprocating lever; a unitary cutter head comprising, a stationary blade, a movable blade, and spring tension means for holding said blades slidably assembled, both of said blades having cutting teeth at one edge; screws passing through the stationary blade and threaded into the blade supporting base for detachably mounting the unitary cutter head; and spaced stop abutments on the base positioned to collide with stop surfaces on opposite ends of the movable blade for accurately defining the limits of motion of the movable blade.

4. In a clipper of the character described: a pair of pivotally connected handles; a base on one of the handles adjacent to the pivot providing a blade support; means on the other handle adjacent to the pivot providing a blade reciproeating lever; a unitary cutter assembly readily detachably secured to the blade support and comprising, a stationary blade having cutting teeth along one edge, a movable blade having cutting teeth along one edge, said movable blade having a longitudinal groove in its outer surface, a spring clip having a portion engaging in said longitudinal groove, and means for securing the spring clip to the stationary blade to hold the movable blade slidably assembled with the stationary blade under spring tension; and cooperating abutments on the movable blade and part of the means for securing the spring clip to the stationary blade constituting cooperating stop abutments for accurately defining the limits of motion of the movable blade, said movable blade having means for drivingly connecting the same to the blade reciprocating lever.

5. In a clipper of the character described: a pair of pivotally connected handles; a base on one of the handles adjacent to the pivot providing a blade support; means on the other handle adjacent to the pivot providing a blade reciprocating lever; a unitary cutter assembly readily detachably secured to the blade support and comprising, a stationary blade having cutting teeth along one edge, a movable blade having cutting teeth along one edge, said movable blade having a longitudinal groove in its outer surface, a spring clip having a portion engaging in said longitudinal groove, and means for securing the spring clip to the stationary blade to hold the movable ing the same to the blade reciprocating lever.

6. A unitary cutter assembly for hair clippers comprising: a stationary blade having cutting teeth along one edge; a movable bladehaving cutting teeth along one edge and overlying the toothed portion of the stationary blade with the teeth of the two blades in cooperative relationship to efiect a shearing action upon reciprocation of the movable blade; a spring clip having a portion lying fiat against the stationary blade and another portion arched over and bearing down on said movable blade to hold the blades assembled with a spring tension; a clamping plate overlying the first named part of the spring clip; screws passing through the clamping plate and threaded into the stationary blade for securing the clamping plate and spring clip to the stationary blade; and cooperating abutments on the clamping plate and the movable blade for accurately defining the limits of reciprocatory motion of the movable blade.

JOHN OSTER. 

